Midnight
by Akai-neechan
Summary: Without fail, the horse carriage will turn into a pumpkin at midnight. This is the magic spell. But, when Hikaru notices that he wants to take another step forward... when that happens what will I do? KaoruCentered, Onesided KaoHika, TamaKyou, HikaHaru
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: So a friend of mine mentioned that "Just Another Week's End" seems like a prologue to something… So I tried to come up with something, but the more I thought about Tamaki and Kyouya, the more ideas I got for Kaoru… and Hikaru, but mainly Kaoru. __Because with that setting there was hardly any proper place for angst and I'd be damned if I didn't include angst in my FF xD _

_So, this series is going to be something like a sequel to Just Another Week's End, although you don't need to have read it to really get what's happened there… I would still be very happy if you read and left a review ^^ _

**Midnight**

_Moonlight brighten__s the night, the perfect circle serving as an only savior in the darkness. The road is empty, only a single carriage marking its way trough the dark slopes. The steady sound of the horse' hoofs hitting the ground is the only audible disturbance of the silent nigh.… I look towards my brother who's sitting inside that carriage across from me and I smile at him…_

Kaoru was the younger twin, a fact everybody was aware of. Yet despite of that, he was always the smarter, the more mature of the two.

He came up with the schemes they pulled, he gathered the information about them and he always had a plan. He left the preparations and actual pranks to his brother most of the time, though. Because after the initial planning was done the tricks didn't really entertain him that much.

He always looked, studied, thought and realized the things that were invisible to his brother and to many others, as well.

_Without fail, the horse carriage will turn into a pumpkin at midnight__. However… the one who cast this magic spell… was not the old witch… _

He always thought, analyzed and studied everything. And he was the one who cast the spell between them.

They had been together since he remembered. Since either of them did. They wanted to be told apart, yet they didn't. They wanted to remain in their narrow world, yet they didn't.

They wanted to break the spell…

Yet they didn't.

So they just kept going.

_This is the magic spell__. If the carriage keeps going, it's not as bad either. _

They were together, but alone. No one had ever been allowed into their world, so they only had each other. They only had each other to care for. They only had each other to keep a hold on. They only had each other to look out for. They only had each other to rely on.

They only had each other to love.

It was twisted, wrong and disgusting in so many ways. They were both boys, they were brothers, they were -twins-. Yet they only had each other and that made things so much easier to accept, to ignore, to forget. Because in their small world, they didn't need anybody else.

_But… someday… there's a high possibility it'll turn back into a yucky pumpkin… _

Yet that someday came… Before any of them realized it.

Kaoru was the first to notice it. There was a crack forming in the thick walls they were creating around themselves. One crack led to another, the pressure of the outside world breaking it like it was a shaky sand castle.

The Host Club had been the first step. That idiot of a Lord that saw trough them without even trying… His actions, more or less unintentionally were tearing down the barrier they had created.

And Hikaru didn't even seem to notice. Not even when Haruhi appeared.

But Kaoru did, and so he decided that to keep the carriage going, he had to do something. He had to change the spell a little bit.

_Well, if you're still running towards me in that situation, I guess things are still fine. _

Hikaru was growing closer to the girl. Slowly, painfully pulling himself away from his brother.

So the younger one acted immediately.

If their past relationship had been wrong, this was outright twisted.

Pretending, faking, stomping on everything true, -replacing-.

Those were the new rules between the two of them.

As for Haruhi…

Since the Lord was in the game, it was obvious who would win. Idiot or not, he had his great times and those times were every girl's dream. On the other hand, even the better side of Hikaru was far from great, when he was on his own.

The victor had been decided before the battle even started.

And that gave Kaoru the needed for the new spell.

And being a replacement had never before been so rewarding.

_But, when Hikaru… notices that he wants to take another step forward… when that happens… what will I do?_

But now…

-----

"I still can't believe this," his twin laughed a little, leaning further into the open window. Kaoru put an arm over the other's shoulder from his position behind him and pulled him back.

"Watch it, Hikaru! They'll see you!" He let his binoculars down and dragged his brother away from the open space.

"No, they won't!" The older one was obviously determined to see more. "They've got their back turned to us!" He easily escaped Kaoru's grasp and leaned forward again, placing his binoculars to his eyes.

Sighing a little the younger twin sat on an empty desk a little behind his brother.

Sometimes he wondered if noticing such thing was a good thing. He was just busying himself with other's problems, with unneeded burdens that tired him and sometimes confused him.

Why was that girl from the Lord's class so unwilling to go anywhere near him and his brother? Why had the last janitor left his job so suddenly? What had happened between the sisters in the upper class?

All unneeded questions, things irrelevant to him that he happened to spot and look into when he had nothing else to do.

And this was just like that.

But now…

It wasn't as irrelevant as it seemed.

He picked the binoculars again and stared over his brother's head into the open window of the Third Music Room. A place that held such great memories of pranks, laughter and times he was grateful for… A place where they could show their truth to the world without worrying that they would be thrown to the side because of who they were.

But it wasn't just the room he was looking at. It was the piano and the small bench in front of it, hardly big enough to bring any comfort to the two people sitting on top of it.

Tamaki and Kyouya. The Lord and the Shadow King. Two of the most different people in the world, sitting there into each other's arms, probably talking quietly.

Alone and free to be themselves because nobody was looking.

At least nobody was supposed to look.

"They look so sweet together," laughed his brother. "Kaoru, how did you find this out? I would have never guessed!"

"Intuition," answered the younger one and left the binoculars down.

It wasn't that he wasn't happy for them. Tamaki was always so exuberant and overexcited, but from his observations of the last half hour he seemed… tamed, if was the right word.

He had played for a while, but ever since Kyouya had joined him in front of the piano, the two of them hadn't moved at all. It was strange to see the Lord still for such a long time.

And this could be good for Kyouya himself, too. The Shadow King needed something to make him relax from time to time and what else, except the easygoing blond?

They were opposites, but that was why people said that 'opposites attract'. He was standing in front of the very proof of that theory.

And he dreaded that fact.

"The Lord's gonna flip when we tell him we know," a devilish grin was stretching Hikaru's face. "And I bet even Kyouya will lose his cool for once!" He laughed. "That would be a sight to see!"

They could do a lot with information like this. Neither of their upperclassmen had ever mentioned anything about this so they were obviously hiding it. That meant they were both perfectly aware what could happen if this were to reach the wrong person.

Kyouya's father and Tamaki's grandmother. If either of them was to find out about this, both boys were going to go to hell and back for it. Being disinherited would be the last thing on their minds if word of this spread.

On the other hand the media would pay millions for a piece of information like this. Not that either of them needed money, though. And spreading the news would only result in the Ootori and Suoh families finding out and things would turn ugly.

Their best options were either to tease the two until the end of eternity or to blackmail them.

Hikaru would vote for the later. They could get great privileges if they could have an upper hand over the two superiors in the Host Club.

Yet Kaoru would never allow him to do something like that.

_Would he even realize? How much they are like the two of us in that matter… _

His golden eyes were glued to the back of his brother's head. There was nothing they could gain from this information.

Or at least, there wasn't anything for him.

But with Tamaki out of the game...

"Hay, you know what, Kaoru…" the older sibling finally moved and started putting away his things. Kaoru's heart was squeezed painfully by the realization that his brother wasn't meeting his eyes. And it wasn't because he was purposely evading him. No, it simply seemed like he didn't care enough to look at him.

"What is it, Hikaru?" He kept his voice steady and normal and he was surprised at how hard that was.

"I've had problems with Japanese lately…"

_But you've always had problems with Japanese… _

"… So I was thinking to go and ask Haruhi for some help since we're in the same class and all."

_But –we-'re in the same class…_

"I think I'll go see what she's doing now, should I call a limo for you, too?"

And this time Hikaru had proved to see what was underneath.

What Kaoru had realized a long time ago, or at least suspected until today, wasn't simply that Kyouya and Tamaki were together. It was that, although nothing seemed to have changed in his obsessed and defensive attitude, the Lord was not, and maybe had never really been any competition for Hikaru.

"No, I think I'll go by foot," he said towards his brother who was sprinting out of the classroom before he could even finish.

And now, when that was a fact, when Haruhi was no longer an unreachable dream, when Hikaru didn't need him as a replacement any more and when the spell had been broken…

_I stand in the middle of a pumpkin field in the impenetrable darkness. The clouds have covered the moon and no light reaches me anymore. I head the sound of a clock tower somewhere in the distance, confirming the arrival of the twelfth hour. And I am alone._

… _What will I do?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Midnight**

The door opened with a soft click and the unexpected sound made him blink. He looked around and the realization dawned on him that he was still in the classroom.

What was he still doing here?

Ah, yes, when Hikaru walked out he didn't felt like getting home.

He didn't feel like getting up.

He didn't feel like doing anything, really.

A small part of him had wanted to break down, but he couldn't. He just couldn't.

So he had just sat there, without moving, without doing anything, without even thinking.

"Hitachiin?" Golden eyes traveled up once more and he met the face of Kazukiyo Soga who stood next to the door. His eyes looked genually surprised, but other than that the boy was completely normal.

Kaoru himself wondered if he looked any different. He knew he felt different.

He felt empty.

"What are you doing here, Class Rep?" He forced himself to ask, shaking his head a little to completely embrace the reality that he had turned his back to for a while. He had to, after all.

"Uh? Well, I was meeting Miss Kurakano to discuss the last project of the class," explained the boy as he left his bag on one of the front desks.

"Is that so?" Kaoru finally got up and found with relief that his feet still weren't useless. He would have thought with what happened –he- would be rendered useless, but he was managing well for the moment.

Yet…

_I__t worked out for them…_

"But even if the spell is changed the carriage can keep going?" He muttered. "How many times will that succeed, I wonder?"

"Excuse me?" The Class President looked at him with obvious confusion. Come to think of it, the boy probably hadn't changed the way things were too much. For as far as Kaoru knew, he and the Vice President were still only friends.

Because he was too scared to change the spell.

"Nothing, I'm just talking to myself," answered the Hitachiin as he quickly took his things and put everything back in his bag. Now that he wasn't in any shape to pretend for too long. The sooner he left, the better.

"You're Kaoru, aren't you?" Golden eyes widened as he looked up, his actions coming to a sudden stop.

How could he know? The boy wasn't even so close to them, he hardly knew them. They hadn't changed that much, this was ridiculous!

How could he…

"Am I wrong? Sorry, I just remembered that Kaoru said something like that back after the Fear Trial, so I thought…" He looked away obviously embraced. But at least his explanation made sense.

Kaoru was simply overreacting. Of course they hadn't changed that much.

They couldn't, could they? At least not so fast.

"No, you're right," he forced a smile. "I'm surprised you remember that."

Finally shoving everything in his bag, the boy threw it over one shoulder and headed out of the room.

"Um… Then, where's Hikaru?" He was at the door already when the question reached him. He turned to look at his classmate over his shoulder.

_Far… __he's far…_

"He had some things to take care of," turning forward the boy started walking again. "See you Monday, Class Rep. Good luck with the date."

As he walked down the corridor he could hear the desperate voice of the other insisting that it wasn't a date.

Well, it should have been, for all Kaoru cared. He should have made the move earlier. But what did that have to do with him, anyway?

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his cellphone and using his chin he opened it.

A quarter past seven. Club activities had ended at five and Hikaru must have walked out around five thirty.

So he had been in the room for almost two hours now.

_Stupid… What could I have done anyway?_

His fingers were dealing numbers and before he realized a familiar number flashed n the screen. He blinked and stopped himself just as he was about to press the 'Call' button.

What would he gain from calling? Hikaru needed his time with Haruhi and he had no right to disturb him.

Almost angrily he snapped his phone shut and pushed it deep into his pocket.

He told his brother not to call him a limo, so he'd just have to walk to the mansion. It wasn't that far away, really and he needed a little time.

No, even an eternity wouldn't be enough to get over this, he feared. Yet he just wanted to go home for now and try to come up with something, -anything- to keep himself together.

His eyes suddenly flashed towards another door that was being opened and he stopped, blinking.

_What am I doing here?_

"Then I'll be waiting for you to call, ok?" The Lord walked out of the door of the Third Music Room, his head turned back towards Kyouya who followed him shortly.

His golden eyes locked with the black gaze of his upperclassman and a single brow was raised.

That was about enough to bring the King's attention to him.

"Eh? What are you doing here, by yourself?" He blinked. "Where's…" the blond started looking around as if he'd lost something.

"Hikaru went to Haruhi's," he answered bluntly which led the Lord to scream in desperation.

"No! How dare that devilish twin go anywhere near my sweet daughter!? Mother, we have to do something before –he- does something!"

_Another spell that stands in place… Another carriage that continues its path… Where did I go wrong?_

"Kaoru?" He looked up at the black haired boy who completely ignored his classmate. "Is anything wrong?"

"No," he shrugged. "I just don't like being without him, is all. I'm going home now."

He waved and turned around, this time deliberately walking towards the exit of the school, leaving the two club members have their piece.

_What happened to the scheme? I don't even feel like revealing that we know__ anymore. It's so… meaningless._

Walking home had never been like this, he mussed. the two of them rarely did it, they had too many things to take care of to waste their time walking, yet at the rare occasions they did, they would have pulled at least one prank and laughed at at least ten people by the time they reached their home.

Now he simply walked, putting his headphones and distancing himself from the world. Somehow being between the crowds only made him feel more alone than he already was.

When he reached his home, he went strait to the room he shared with Hikaru, took his clothes off and curled under the covers.

It was at that point that he lost track of everything again. Something was missing, he realized. It was almost like suddenly nothing mattered anymore. Nothing was important enough for him to even think about it, because thinking never solved anything.

_No… It only makes matters worce._

At a certain point Hikaru came back. Stirring when he heard him enter the room, the younger one looked at the digital clock. Ten to ten. It wasn't like he had slept a second of the time, but it wasn't like he had been awake, either.

"You're in bed early," stated his brother as he made his way across the room, not turning the lights on. "Are you feeling ok?"

"Yes, I'm alright, Hikaru," he knew that adding the other's name in that sentence had been all but unneeded, but he liked to say it as much as possible. He always had. And despite of that he felt like there was something strange in the way the letters rolled off of his tongue this time. "Did it go well?"

"Oh, it was awesome!" Turning towards him, his brother was positively shining. "Haruhi was acting annoyed at first but I'm sure she didn't mean it! I mean, she invited me in and she helped me with the homework and then we talked, and she's going to Nagoya for the weekend, did you know that?"

"She is?" Sitting up in bed Kaoru made himself look interested, as he smiled softly towards his brother.

It was the first time, he realized, when his fake expression had fooled the older twin and in a strange way, that hurt him.

"Yeah, she has some relatives there and she's going to visit!"

And he was so vigorous about it that he didn't have to say any more. Kaoru didn't want to hear any more, and more than that he didn't want to already be aware of his brother's intentions.

But he was.

"Hay," Hikaru sat across from him on the bed, left only in his boxers now. "do you want to go to Nagoya, Kaoru? We'll get a hotel room for the night not to bother them and then we'll go around with her all day! It's going to be so much fun!"

"Sure, why not?" His approval was met with a happy 'Yahoo!' before Hikaru rushed towards the bathroom to take a shower without as much as another glance at him.

Kaoru clenched his eyes shut, prying the tears away as he lied down facing the big window and cuddled up further into the covers.

_What will I do now?_


	3. Chapter 3

**Midnight**

He was walking down the halls slowly. Maybe he should have hurried a bit but crawling out of bed was the only thing he actually managed to do and if the Lord wasn't happy with that, he would get really disappointed. He had never been invited, after all. The only thing that kept the younger sibling from completely ignoring him was what his mother had desperately been trying to tech him about being a good host.

And, annoying and coming in the absolutely worst time as he was, Tamaki was still his guest.

He finally drew close to the waiting room when the soft sounds reached him.

He held in his tracks just outside the door, still being hidden behind the wall. He couldn't see him, but he could hear him. He could hear his music.

He would never disagree that their King had unbelievable talent. It showed in everything he did. He could be a great host and a kind person all of the time if he didn't give into his childish behavior.

And when he sat himself in front of a piano, that behavior seemed to completely disappear.

And the music was beautiful, coming naturally from his heart and catching everyone who listened to it in a beautiful net of emotions.

But suddenly memories of yesterday rushed at Kaoru and his hands rushed up to cover his ears. Come to think of it he had played for Kyouya, too. He had played back then…

Hikaru's words were suddenly repeating in his mind. And not only last night's words, but things he had said long before, things that Kaoru had -remembered-. And suddenly the beautiful accords were torture for him, trapping him into a world of the feelings he had been trying to lock away.

He didn't know when he had leaned against the wall and his hands had moved to his eyes, but he was suddenly cuddled up and the music was overtaking his senses once more.

It was then when he realized the burning in his eyes and the moisture at the corners.

So he rushed up and ran. His vision was hardly really blurred, so he quickly made his way to the closest bathroom, kicked the door open and splashed water in his face. When he finally slowed down, he looked into the mirror and only then he realized how bad he looked.

He was panting just a little from the sudden rush, his hear had been completely messed up by his hands and his eyes were a little red with dark circles underneath them. Not to mention he was pale.

He clenched his eyes.

_I'm not crying!_

It seemed to work after a few deep breaths and he finally looked up again. He couldn't appear like that. Sure, his natural complexion was returning, but his eyes looked terrible.

He quickly took out the concealer he always had with him and applied a little over the dark spots, successfully hiding them from view.

He then fished a comb from under the sink and put his hair back in order.

Finally done with that, he inspected himself in the mirror.

_Better… _

If someone was to really look into it, they would probably notice some difference but Tamaki was never an observant person, so he could be considered safe.

With that in mind, he put away the comb and hid the concealer back into his pocket. It was much less dangerous to be hidden behind the make up. He had picked that up from his mother.

And, come to think of it, she was here for a while now. She had probably seen the Lord and had been in the room.

That would mean she would never be able to say a bad word for him. The woman absolutely loved art in any form. Whatever stupid thing Tamaki did from here on would be forgotten and forgiven in a matter of seconds.

Well, at least he wouldn't have to worry about that now.

And come to think of it, this was the first time the King met his mother.

_Well, it could __have been worse…_

He finally made his way out of the bathroom and towards the place he had left them. When he entered, though, there was only a maid in the room, adjusting the music sheets that stood on the grand piano.

"Where's the Lord?" He asked a little surprised.

"The Mistress invited him for breakfast and they are currently in the first dining room, sir," she immediately answered.

"Thank you."

With that he quickly made his way down another corridor until the soft laughter of his mother's voice finally reached him some five steps away from said room.

"You certainly have interesting ideas, Mr. Suoh," she said as he finally entered the room.

"Oh, please, Madam, call me simply Tamaki," the president had that charming smile that only Haruhi was immune to. And, of course, it worked perfectly on his mother.

"Morning," said the twin to turn their attention to his arrival. His mother immediately smiled at him.

"Morning, darling!" She exclaimed. "Kaoru, why have you never introduced me to this splendid young man?" Yes, she had most certainly been listening to him play. "I hear you've been friends for some years now!"

"You've been away for most of those years," shrugged the red haired boy as he turned to a servant with his preferences for his meal, before seating himself on the table across from the Lord.

"You show extraordinary skills, Madam!" Exclaimed same blond. "May I ask you how you are able to tell the difference between your perfectly identical twins?"

Well, at least Tamaki was in 'formal' mode, which meant he really didn't have worry about anything he might do. That was good.

"Oh, no, no, in all honesty, I can't tell the difference when they don't want me too, despite of being their mother," she waved he hand as to dismiss that little fact. "But since Hikaru is absent for the weekend, it's simple to know that the one at home is Kaoru."

"Absent?" There was clear confusion in the lavender eyes of their guest and as his food was brought Kaoru chose to concentrate on that and let the two have their conversation.

"Oh, didn't you know, Tamaki? Hikaru went on a trip. Although I am a little surprised myself. Are you feeling alright, Kaoru? I heard from him that you were sick."

"Yeah, as sick as I was in Karuizawa," muttered the twin, not happy that he had to be dragged in the conversation.

"You were sick during your holiday?" Was his mother pretending to be stupid?

"No, I acted sick to set Hikaru and Haruhi on a date." The truth was so much easier to deal with sometimes.

"Wha- You mean that Hikaru's in Nagoya?" Exclaimed the Lord and golden eyes turned at him in silent surprise.

"You knew Haruhi's going to Nagoya, Milord?" Kaoru raised a single brow in contemplation.

So if he knew that and he was still here… Maybe the thing between him and the Kyouya was more than what he had given credit for.

Either that or Tamaki's feelings for Haruhi were as fake as he had thought them to be.

"But of course I knew," exclaimed the blond. "How can I not keep track of my sweet little daughter!"

Golden eyes widened just a little at the defensiveness of his voice.

Or maybe his feelings weren't fake at all. They were exactly what he made them look like. All he thought of Haruhi was as a daughter figure, as someone he had to defend and teach and push forward.

It was so foolish that he had never thought of it that way, but it did make sense to him now. It wasn't only an act.

_It isn't only a spell. Maybe that's why it works so perfectly…_

He knew his mother would pay big attention to the 'daughter' proclamation, so he hurried up to bring something else up before she did.

"So, Milord, why are you here, anyway?"

Not that he needed to know. It was plainly obvious. After all that was what the declaration of a 'surprise' had been for. To prove things even more. Because, on his own, Tamaki would never get too worried about it but Kyouya had most certainly considered their possible actions and asked him, or manipulated him into proposing to keep them from anything during the weekend.

He had expected that, of course. But he needed something to distract his mother. And he was a little curious about what the other's excuse would be.

"Aren't I allowed to come and see how you devilish twins are doing without a reason?" That caused his mother to chuckle.

"No." He answered flatly, bursting the king's bubble. He was all but surprised Tamaki didn't go sulking in his little corner.

"Well, then, you've got me," he said with a look that would have made any girl forget the initial question. "In truth, I was wondering if you could assist me with something."

And from the sparkle in the lavender eyes he knew that it was something he had actually been planning and something that concerned either Haruhi or the Host Club.

'What is it?" Kaoru asked just a little curious, leaning against the table.

"You've taken some art classes before, haven't you?" He nodded, wondering where that was going to. The classes had been short since he grew bored of it quite soon. Hikaru had also gone with him, at that time. He didn't know if he'd agree to join him if he started anew, though. "Well, I've been wondering if you could help me with creating some original costumes for the Club."

"Original costumes, Milord?" Oh, he had to agree he hadn't seen that one coming. The king always came up with the craziest ideas, although this could actually end up to be something good for a change.

"Yes!" he exclaimed excitedly and there was that look on his face that looked like it would fit an eager child better. "We're going to one of Honey's family villas next weekend, so I was thinking of having a surprise for everybody! I wanted to make something like a costume party, but I'm not good in designing that much. So I thought I should come to ask for your help! What do you say?"

"Oh, but that's a splendid idea," his mother clapped her hands and she looked almost as excited as the Host King. "If you boys can make the designs by tomorrow night I'll have the costumes done by Friday, how does that sound? And I've always wanted to see what Kaoru could come up with in that field!"

"Thank you so much, Madam!" The most innocent and honest smile appeared on Tamaki's face. "I'm so happy I have your approval!" He grabbed her hand eagerly.

She laughed a little while Kaoru couldn't help the soft smile.

"I guess we could do that," he said, earning a bright and happy look from the Lord. "How about we go to the second mansion after breakfast and I'll show you the collection of mother's designs. We could pick what we like and change it as much as we want."

"That would be wonderful! Thank you, Kaoru!"


End file.
